Analyze a prose chapter for narrative technique, voice, pacing, and craft decisions. Inverse of chapter-writing. Use when the user wants to analyze a chapter, dissect prose technique, study a chapter, or mentions chapter analysis or prose breakdown.
Dissect a written chapter to identify the craft decisions behind it: narrative technique, voice management, pacing strategy, sensory construction, and dialogue handling. This is the inverse of the chapter-writing skill -- instead of writing prose from an outline, we extract the implicit outline from prose.
analysis/<book-title>/raw-chapters/chNN-*.mdanalysis/<book-title>/extracted/chapters/chNN/analysis.mdGenerate a document with these sections:
# Chapter [N] Analysis: [CHAPTER TITLE]
## Overview
- **Word count**: [N]
- **Estimated reading time**: [N minutes]
- **Number of scenes**: [N]
- **POV character(s)**: [names]
- **Timeline**: [when this chapter takes place]
- **Primary locations**: [where]
## Narrative Technique
- **POV type used**: (first / third limited / third omniscient / second)
- **Tense**: (past / present)
- **Psychic distance range**: (where does the narration sit -- close internal, mid-range, distant?)
- **Psychic distance shifts**: [note where the narration zooms in or out, and why]
- **Information control**: What does the narrator reveal, withhold, or delay? Why?
## Voice and Style
- **Prose density**: (sparse / moderate / lush) with evidence
- **Sentence length patterns**: (short, long, varied) -- note deliberate shifts
- **Diction register**: (formal / informal / mixed) -- vocabulary choices
- **Figurative language**: List notable metaphors, similes, imagery. Identify source domains.
- **Rhythmic effects**: Any deliberate rhythmic prose (parallel structure, repetition, sentence fragments)
- **Anti-patterns observed**: Any recurring weaknesses or crutch phrases
## Dialogue Analysis
- **Tag style**: (said-only / varied / action beats / tagless)
- **Character voice differentiation**: Can you tell characters apart by dialogue alone? Rate and explain.
- **Subtext**: Where is dialogue carrying meaning beneath the surface?
- **Dialogue-to-narration ratio**: Approximate percentage
- **Internal monologue method**: (italics / integrated / absent)
## Pacing
- **Opening strategy**: How does the chapter begin? (in media res / setting / thought / dialogue)
- **Tension curve**: Map the tension level across the chapter (low/med/high per scene)
- **Compression and expansion**: Where does time speed up or slow down?
- **Chapter ending**: How does it close? (cliffhanger / resolution / question / emotional beat)
## Sensory Construction
- **Senses used**: Which of the five senses appear, and how often?
- **Dominant sensory mode**: Which sense carries the most weight?
- **Sensory anchoring**: How does the author ground the reader in physical space?
- **Notable sensory moments**: Specific passages where sensory writing is strongest
## Emotional Architecture
- **Entering emotional state**: What is the reader/character feeling at the start?
- **Emotional beats**: Map the emotional progression through the chapter
- **Peak emotional moment**: The most emotionally intense point
- **Exiting emotional state**: What is the reader/character feeling at the end?
- **Emotional contrast**: Does the chapter use emotional juxtaposition?
## Craft Observations
- **Strongest craft element**: What does this chapter do best?
- **Weakest craft element**: Where does the craft falter?
- **Techniques worth studying**: Specific moves that other writers could learn from
- **Comparison notes**: Does this chapter's technique differ from other chapters? How?
analysis/<book-title>/extracted/chapters/chNN/analysis.md